This week, I'm pulling over to catch up on my mail and answer some traffic questions from readers. Here goes:

Q: I've always wondered about my liability when I follow the instructions of flaggers at a stop sign. If I follow their manual instruction to proceed and somehow wind up in an accident because I didn't stop for the posted sign, who is at fault? I'm thinking I'm probably at fault because I'm the driver. But the flaggers always look annoyed when I don't heed their hand motions and manual "slow" sign and stop anyway. Help me (and the rest of your readers) and tell me how this situation should be handled.

Uh, well, uh, that's a . . . how 'bout them Dodgers? Seriously, this is the type of query, with its slippery legal bend, that prompts traffic geeks to start talking about baseball or the weather.

Five things to know about your commute

Sun glare

It's Enemy No. 1 on the roads lately. A Portland employee who hit a bicyclist with a city-owned truck at Southeast Ankeny and 13th Avenue on Thursday blamed it for temporarily blinding him. Meanwhile, the rising sun, not stalls or crashes, is the main reason for recent slowdowns in the Terwilliger Curves and on U.S. 26 eastbound during the morning drive. Just remember: A dirty windshield makes the glare worse.

Zoobomb "pyle"

From the Bureau of Keep Portland Weird, the city's Zoobombers now have their own monument-slash-bike rack at Southwest 13th Avenue and West Burnside. Unveiled Friday and topped by a golden minibike, the $10,000 functional art was designed by Brian Borrello and Vanessa Renwick. It replaces the chaotic, unsanctioned pile of bikes once located near Rocco's Pizza and reminds passing cyclists that they're home.

Late night closures on Interstate 5 in North Portland

Red-eye commuters might want to avoid I-5 from Victory Boulevard to Delta Park this week. The Oregon Department of Transportation will intermittently close the freeway in both directions from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. to install new sign bridges (the structures that hold freeway signs) as part of a widening project.
Open house for State Route 500/St. Johns Boulevard project in Vancouver

Here's your chance to learn about the interchange project that will close St. Johns Boulevard for a year and about commute alternatives during construction. The new interchange is designed to reduce traffic collisions on SR 500. Stop by Washington Elementary School, 2908 S St., on Wednesday from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.

George Will

The stuffy conservative columnist for Newsweek, who recently railed against blue jeans as the single biggest threat to American decency, now whines that Portland -- with its ample bike lanes, love for light rail and walkable neighborhoods -- is an enemy of American freedom -- its freedom to get around. George, I was in D.C. last week. I'll take a PDX commute over a beltway slog any day. You need to loosen that bow tie, allow a little more oxygen up there and come visit.

Since I can't just blame the stop sign, I turned to Dave Thompson of the Oregon Department of Transportation, who is usually an ace with answers. Usually. "Perhaps," he said, "you could check with an attorney, or even better, a traffic court judge."

But his gut reaction: "Follow the directions of the flagger."

Actually, according to Portland traffic-law attorney Ray Bradley, a driver can be held liable, even if he or she is following the flagger's directions.

"There's nothing that says if a flagger waves you forward that you have no liability," Bradley said. "The driver has a responsibility."

Under Oregon's "comparative negligence" law, the reality is everyone -- the driver, the flagger and the hypothetical driver of the car that's T-boned -- could bear responsibility together. If it goes to trial, a judge or jury would determine how much each party -- and their auto insurer -- is responsible for paying.

"There could be a situation where the flagger is 30 percent liable, the driver is 50 percent and the driver of the car, who might have been speeding, is 20 percent," Bradley said.

On the other hand, the flagger, who has a responsibility, could be found 100 percent negligent. And so could you.

My best advice: Obey the flagger, but proceed with caution. And look for L.A. to win the World Series.

I had a question regarding the construction on the Morrison Bridge. Are they building a bike lane? I work downtown at Third and Washington and it'd be super convenient to stay on the Eastside Esplanade and go over the Morrison. Now, I go over the Hawthorne and jig jag my way up there.

I wrote about bike traffic jams on Portland bridges a couple of weeks ago (20 percent of the daily traffic on the Hawthorne, for example, is now bicycles). Well, the ongoing construction is a good thing for people looking for relief from the two-wheeled congestion.

Multnomah County, which manages the bridges, is building a bicycle and pedestrian path that will be 15 feet wide.

On the main span, a crash barrier will stand between the path and traffic lanes. The path, which will be open by December, will begin at Southeast Water Avenue on the east side of the Willamette River and run to a Southwest Alder Street ramp leading to Second Avenue and Naito Parkway.
When you are being tailgated and there is no safe place to pull over or change lanes to let the offender pass you, is it ever acceptable (legal) to speed up over the posted speed limit and maintain that speed in order to avoid this situation?

Don't count on the tailgating excuse, as legitimate as it may be, to work if you get pulled over for speeding. Chances are, the officer didn't see what was happening, which is why he pulled you over instead of the guy kissing your back bumper.

"I think there are very few situations that someone may not have a safe place to pull off to or be able to change lanes," says Oregon State Police Lt. Gregg Hastings.

My best advice -- which comes with Hasting's stamp of approval -- is to flip on your turn signal for a lane change, parking lot or side street.

You'll likely get the other driver's attention, prompting them to back off. Although you may have the urge, don't tap your brakes. That could lead to the very thing you're trying to avoid -- a trip to the body shop or worse.